In 1955, Money, Mississippi, a 14-year-old Black Boy was
killed by two white men for having some interaction with one of their wives in
a store. What that interaction was is
still unclear, but some versions of the story say he whistled at the white
woman, while others say that he said something sexually suggestive to her. In any case Emmett Till was not supposed to
interact with her at all while he was in that store, in accordance with the
unjust southern racial caste system. His
body was later found brutally mangled, beaten and unimaginably disfigured. Although everyone knew who killed him, they
also all knew that there would be no justice for him.
Fast forward to 2014, and to the video footage of Tamir Rice
being gunned down by a white police officer in Cleveland, Ohio. Look at the footage of Eric Garner being
choked to death by a half-dozen cops in New York City in the summer of 2014 for
illegally selling single cigarettes. Before
that, consider the audio recording of George Zimmerman as he stalked and later
killed Trayvon Martin, defying the instructions of the 911 operator who told
him not to pursue Martin. Look at myriad
other similar recorded instances in which unarmed Black Men and Boys have
been killed while posing no serious threat to anyone, if posing a threat at
all.
Now also look at footage of young white men confronting
cops, cursing at them, getting chesty with them, pushing them, yelling at
them. The difference is that the white
boys can do that and not only live to joke about it later, but often don’t ever
find themselves in handcuffs at all after confronting cops. In fact, young white men can walk into a
movie theater, shoot down and kill a dozen people, and live to stand trial and
defend themselves (see James Holmes...Aurora, Colorado).
The fact of the matter is that Black people have been
mistreated by police officers (and the white public at large) for centuries…AND
WE HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THIS TO BE THE CASE with and without cameras present to
verify it. Every person, Black, white or
other, knew that those two white men killed Emmett Till in 1954. And those two white men knew that they could
kill Till and get away with his murder, AND that it would be fine by their
white brethren. And as if to prove that
point, they brazenly gave a full length account of how they murdered Till in Look Magazine, once they’d been
acquitted of the murder.
Today, everyone (Black, white and other) knows that the
death of Eric Garner, for example, was wrong and the white officers were
absolutely excessive and out of order in their take down and subsequent
disregard for the health of the man.
Yet, no charges. And the list of
similar cases is unbelievably extensive…from the acquittal of the cops who were
videotaped beating Rodney King, to the not guilty verdicts of the cops who
killed Amadou Diallo (murdered by cops while standing unarmed on the porch of
his home).
What’s my point? I
know that everyone is urging the police officers nationwide to adopt the use of
body cameras, as a way of holding police officers accountable. The fact of the matter is that we NEVER
needed cameras for everyone to know when an injustice had been committed at the
hands of police – the Emmett Till story highlights that (though the white
murderers weren’t cops in that case).
I support all police officers having body cams that have
specific fail safes on them (e.g. alerts when a cop turns off the camera,
requiring the cop to explain why the camera was off). But all the cameras will do is add to the
ridiculously extensive pile of proof that societal injustices – often at the
hands of (white) police officers – frequently occur toward Black people. But what the very recent evidence shows is
that even with cameras the end result will not change: Black Men will be unnecessarily killed, while
white murderers – whether in a badge or not – will go free.
-Maelstrom
No comments:
Post a Comment